Persistence
by Agent Siris
Summary: It will bring people together, and it will tear people apart. It will create heroes and it will destroy cowards who run from the truth. R


A/N: This is unbeta-ed so if there are any mistakes please tell me in the review. I hope you enjoy this. Make sure to tell how you like it in the reviews...Thank You...

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"If humans spent less time thinking what separates them, and more time thinking about what unites them, then the world would be a much happier place."

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"Why, Mr. Anderson, why? Why? Why? Why do you do it?"

In a time under extreme and unbearable duress, human beings finally begin to fully understand their flaws and their strengths. Only during these last small worthless moments do they see the complete error in their ways. But by then it is too late; the damage has already been done, their time has come and gone. They will disappear like a whisper in a deep dark cave, hardly a trace will be left of their existence. It will be as if they were never there.

"Why, why...why keep fighting?"

But in those last few moments, most humans will find what is really important to them. They will find a certain clarity that only the result of existential crisis. It will bring people together, and it will tear people apart. It will create heroes and it will destroy cowards who run from the truth.

"Do you believe you are fighting for something? For more than your survival?"

Some humans, before the end, will crumble into nothing. They will decide that they cannot take the constant pain and guilt and selfishness that makes up their outlook on the world and just cease to care any longer—they wait for the end. While others will feel somewhat empowered by this untimely end. They will feel invigorated and wait anxiously for it to come. This blind anxiety can only be described as delirium. A side effect of not being able to cope.

"Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know?"

But there is another type of person—an anomaly of sorts. Instead of cowering in a corner, or waiting blindly like a fool for the end, they stand their ground. They hold their heads high, knowing not what will happen, but excepting their fate anyway. This does not deter them, of course. They stand their ground because of what they stand up for and are proud to do so.

"Is it freedom or truth? Perhaps peace? Or is it for love?"

They stand strong, holding their loved ones and their beliefs in their heart. It is a time when these people find religion and God. They find the true meaning of life and what it held for them. Not even the strongest blast of a hurricane or the hardest shake of the earth could sway them. Each person holds something different. One person holds love, while another holds determination and the will to do right. Another holds empathy. They stand side-by-side and hand-in-hand, brave faces on each. Fear is no longer part of the equation.

"Illusions, Mr. Anderson, vagaries of perception. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose."

The world crumbles and shakes and trembles, but these anomalies still hold their ground, reinforcing each other. When one person threatens to fall, the others support him. They link together, becoming one. They have become what humanity has never been been to accomplish—being totally united. You see, that is what happens when humans face the end. They join together under a common fear and hope and submission, forgetting all the differences that once separated the entire human race. Even with such chaos ripping through what they call reality, the group can still feel something that can only be described as peacefulness. Complete and utter peacefulness.

"Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why? Why do you persist?"

And when it is all done, these men and women smile. The smile is not kind or happy, but awfully sad as they stare death and destruction in the eye. Their faces are marred and dirty, yet there is a certain glow that radiates from these people. One of the men steps out of the group, takes hold of death by the hand, and looks back as if to say, "It's alright. Our work here is done. Let us go to the unknown, my friends." Then, he begins to glow and disappears in a flash of blinding light. Death sticks out it's cold cracked hand, and one by one the anomalies take hold and pass on to the next life. If there is one, anyway.

When its work has been completed, it too, disappears.

In the end, there is only one answer Smith's question. Why? Why do we persist? Why do we keep on living and breathing and fighting for survival? Why do we not just learn our lesson? Why? Why don't we just quit? Why not just stop caring? Why? Why waste the energy anyway? Why won't we stop? Why? Why? Why? WHY?

So many questions.

So many variables.

But there is really only one answer.

Why do we persist?

"Because we choose to."

A/N: Please Review...Thank you for the opportunity to share with you.  
I did this fanfic in honor of The Smiling Shadow. I never truly knew her. Just by her fanfics, but she has truly touched me through her work. Shadow, if you are reading this, let me tell you that you are truly an anomaly. Agent Smith and Neo would be proud.

~Agent Siris


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